The proposed research is an investigation of how parents, reproductive behavior affects the survival chances of children. The analysis will be guided by a theoretical framework in which parents' previous reproductive history affects a child's health through intermediate health-related behavioral factors, through exposure to infections, and through the underlying healthiness of the child. Our objective is to determine the reasons underlying the observed association between parental reproductive history and child survival. The specific aims of the project include: 1. investigation of the importance of parental reproductive history in determining a child's survival in these two populations; 2. determination of the influence of birth spacing, maternal age and birth order on parental behavior related to child health, on the household disease environment, and on the underlying healthiness of a child; 3. examination of the mediating effects that parental skills and knowledge particularly as represented by maternal education and the type of health care available have on the association between reproductive patterns and child survival.